SHARING bread at a meal was a cherished French tradition for Jerome Favier as he grew up in France.
“It unites people for the meal because you share the bread,” he explained.
“It’s a daily trip to your local baker to buy your bread and pastries.
“Baking is part of the culture. There is a bakery in every town. They say for every thousand people there is a bakery, so Tamborine should have around eight bakeries.”
In 2023 Jerome brought his passion for bread to the mountain, opening Franquette.
He’d been scouring the real estate listings online, but it was a trip to the mountain that led him to stumble upon the location for his now famous bakery.
“I saw it and thought, that’s the one. It just felt like it was the right choice,” Jerome said.
In many ways Tamborine Mountain is reminiscent of his hometown of Tournus, a popular tourist town halfway between Paris and Marselle.
“We have all the vineyards and the river with the tour boats coming from Germany,” he said.
“It’s popular for churches. We have the Abbey de Tournus, which was built in the beginning of the Roman era.”
And of course there was fine food. Despite having a population of only 6000, Tournus boasts three Michelin star restaurants.
“I miss the history, which Australia doesn’t have. I like architecture and history,” he said.
“Australia is very different with its culture and lifestyle, but I love it.
“People are more positive here. There is less worry.”
Jerome credits his English teacher for pushing him to leave France and ending up in Australia, encouraging him to explore English speaking countries further afield than the United Kingdom.
It was at the time when Lara Bingle’s “where the bloody hell are you” campaign was hitting France.
He first landed in Australia in 2009 as a backpacker after finishing a business degree and spent a year travelling and doing farm work.
After returning to France Jerome decided he wanted to learn a craft that he could put into practice anywhere in the world and having always been interested in food decided to study bread and pastry making, training under elite craftsmen.
This led him to work in France, Switzerland and Germany.
In 2014 he returned to Australia and to the Gold Coast where he took up work at the Burleigh Baker.
It was following COVID with the soaring house prices that Jerome decided to capitalise on the equity in his Gold Coast home and go into business.
“I’m very career orientated. I probably got that from my parents because they were shop owners. My dad was a watch maker and had a little business,” he said.
“It cost more than half a million to get it started as it was an empty shell. There was a lot of work to be done.”
It was an exhausting, but exciting time.
Then the Christmas tornado struck the mountain.
Like everyone else on the mountain, Franquette had no power and couldn’t open but Jerome had ingredients he didn’t want to throw out, so he managed to cook what was left and stood outside selling his pastries at cost price to grateful locals.
I still remember my chat with him on one of the days when he was probably at his lowest and he revealed he was on the brink of losing his home.
“I was only insured for the stock and didn’t have any savings accumulated, everything went back into the business,” he explained.
“Stopping trading for two weeks sucked up all I had personally and professionally. I owed the ATO $5000 and all I had in my account was $4900 so the money bounced back which was incredibly lucky because it was enough to be able to reopen the business.
“It was tough. I was by myself with no one to help. Family is far away and friends don’t understand. Napoleon (his faithful German Shepherd) was my emotional support. I was a young business owner with only nine months of experience.
“I could only wait and lucky it only lasted two weeks. This area was one of the last to get power.”
That is now history as Jerome prepares to celebrate Franquette’s third birthday on March 9.
Business doesn’t allow time for much else and Jerome has learnt to sleep at all hours of the day and night.
“My body clock is all over the place. I can sleep at random times. When you don’t have a choice it’s normal. And I love what I’m doing,” Jerome said.
In spite of his busy work schedule, he and Napoleon have welcomed a new love into their lives, Hina Thurecht, and on a trip back to France in September last year Jerome proposed.
Playing sport, including rugby and gymnastics, has been a part of his life since his youth and although there is little time for those activities now either, he does look forward to his regular game of futsal at Vonda Youngman every week.
“It’s a bunch of local guys. We don’t even count the score, it’s just social and fun and we share a drink together,” he said.
“I’ve tried surfing, but I’ve never managed to get to a good level.
“I love spending time with my dog and going out to restaurants.
“I’m not a party animal like I was in my 20s – since becoming a baker I’ve focused more on my work.”
